Chapter 264: All Are Villains

The next day.

Jiang Cheng rented a modified pickup from headquarters and set out for White Pine Village.

With experience, he was already familiar with the road.

To be cautious, he also put on a Human Skin Mask to avoid being recognized by the group at the gate; upon reaching the outskirts of White Pine Village, he turned the steering wheel and drove into the wilderness.

Not long after setting off, he encountered an expedition team consisting of two off‑road vehicles.

Seeing Jiang Cheng alone, the people in both vehicles were quite surprised.

Two of them hurriedly looked at the pickup's tires, and after seeing nothing unusual, they watched Jiang Cheng leave.

"I have no idea where this reckless youngster came from, daring to come here alone."

A gunner in one of the vehicles let out a cold laugh.

"Perhaps others are bold because of their skill."

The driver beside him made a teasing remark.

"Forget it, ignore him, we'll keep moving."

Someone in the other off‑road vehicle said.

Since Jiang Cheng's vehicle had no prey, they were too lazy to take the risk.

After all, a lone driver hunting in the wild could be a reckless youth or a master, but either way the chance of encountering one is quite low.

On the other hand, Jiang Cheng also let out a sigh of relief.

Honestly, his nerves had tightened when he met those people.

The good news was that the other side had no intention of causing trouble.

The bad news was that such situations would likely become common.

After driving for a while longer, four rams with curved horns appeared in view, about two hundred meters away.

Jiang Cheng thought it over and decided against attacking.

He now has to cultivate Cloud‑Piercing Skill and also practice swordsmanship, his time is already tight, and the more often he goes hunting, the greater the probability of an accident.

Considering everything, hunting once a day is the best choice.

With the pickup's limited payload, the mass of the prey becomes very important.

Ideally a Black Barbarian Ox, a Sixth‑tier Exotic Beast—three of them would approach a million; if that's not possible, a Fifth‑ or Fourth‑tier would still be decent, each can fetch a little over a hundred thousand.

As for the ram, a Third‑tier Exotic Beast, better to skip it.

Jiang Cheng continued driving forward.

Hard work pays off; after more than ten minutes, he came across two Fifth‑tier Exotic Beasts, Black Mane Pigs.

!

Jiang Cheng quickly stopped the vehicle, raised his gun, aimed at the larger one, and felled it with two shots.

The remaining one was frightened, crying out while fleeing into the bushes.

However, as its front half slipped in, its rear half was hit by two bullets and it fell.

In the blink of an eye, the two Black Mane Pigs were secured.

Yet Jiang Cheng did not become complacent; after scanning the surroundings and seeing no vehicles or people, he swiftly jumped out, hauled the two Black Mane Pigs to the back of the cargo area, flung the door open, tossed them in at lightning speed, and slammed the door shut.

He didn't forget to glance around again.

After confirming no one saw him, he finally let out a sigh of relief and got back into the driver's seat.

"It was clearly a legitimate catch, yet it feels like we're stealing."

Jiang Cheng gave a wry smile.

If Ye Ying were here, it would be much more reassuring.

At least we wouldn't have to be so nervous.

Fortunately, the two Black Mane Pigs are sizable; selling them for five hundred thousand would be more than enough.

"These are all his! If my luck spikes and I encounter a few more Black Mane Pigs, one million eight hundred thousand will be in my hands instantly."

Jiang Cheng thought to himself, pressed the accelerator, and kept circling around the foot of the mountain.

Soon after, he encountered several more Exotic Beasts.

Unfortunately, like the ram, they were all Third‑tier.

Jiang Cheng shook his head, glanced at the time—just past ten, about two hours before noon—so catching two Fourth‑ or Fifth‑tier Exotic Beasts should be doable.

But as he drove on, faint gunshots came from ahead; instinctively, Jiang Cheng eased off the throttle and looked forward.

He saw a black off‑road vehicle sprinting ahead, weaving left and right, with two more off‑road vehicles behind it; two gunmen stuck their heads out of the cars, gripping Heavy Machine Guns, firing continuously at the vehicle in front.

Jiang Cheng's complexion changed.

It was clearly a firefight.

The front vehicle was being chased by the two behind.

The two gunmen's Heavy Machine Guns were likely 12.7 mm; for a Level 6 Original Force Warrior, even a vital‑organ hit wouldn't be dangerous.

However, he had no intention of meddling.

After all, he didn't know what kind of people were being chased ahead, and those who survive here are unlikely to be good people in the traditional sense.

So he reversed the vehicle, heading perpendicular to the three cars, intending to take a detour.

What he didn't expect was the front car also turned a corner and chased after him.

Through the rearview mirror, Jiang Cheng saw this and his brows instantly knit.

Clearly, the car behind intended to use him as a shield, or to have him share the fire.

He felt an urge to stop and eliminate the people in the rear vehicle.

At that moment, an anomaly suddenly erupted.

The car suddenly drifted in place; it seemed the tire had been hit by a machine gun and blew out.

The people in the two cars behind immediately seized the chance, flanked from both sides, and rained crazy fire on the cockpit.

"Da da da da da……"

The shell casings jumped out wildly.

The bullets fell like a storm.

Very quickly, the two in the cockpit were turned into hedgehogs by the Heavy Machine Gun, dead beyond death.

Jiang Cheng saw the scene and let out a cold laugh.

The two were also clever but fell victim to their own cleverness.

They tried to pull themselves into trouble, but when they turned the speed dropped, and the people behind seized the chance and blew the tire.

However, to put it another way, they kept running ahead; sooner or later the cars behind would hit their tires, which is also a dead end.

But the next moment, he sensed a malice.

Looking back, he saw the people in those two cars, after killing the two behind, indeed did not pause, accelerated straight toward him.

"You really think I'm a soft persimmon, huh?"

Jiang Cheng's eyes flashed with strong murderous intent.

In fact, it was indeed so.

The people in the two off‑road vehicles behind were in the business of killing people and looting cargo.

When they saw a lone vehicle, they looked for a chance and launched an attack.

The off‑road vehicle they chased was unlucky to be spotted and hadn't had time to fight back; one of its occupants was severely injured.

Both sides immediately began a chase.

The front vehicle being hit was only a matter of time,

but coincidentally, Jiang Cheng appeared in the process.

Since they had already taken down one "prey", eliminating the second "prey" that appeared midway was only natural, right? "Quick, quick, quick! Catch him!"

A gunman loaded a magazine and said excitedly,

Who would have thought luck was this good—buy one get one free.

"Don't be impatient; he can't run away."

The gunman in the other vehicle licked his lips and laughed,

If you run, it'll be just like those two they just killed—first the tire gets blown, then Sweep dead in the cockpit.

Not running?

That would be an even dead end.

(End of chapter)